


A Hero's Blade

by SouthyJr



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Anime), Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Xenoblade Chronicles 2 (Video Game)
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Gen, Mild Language, No Prior Xenoblade Chronicles 2 Knowledge Required, Pokemon Characters Replace XC2 Characters, Xenoblade-Typical Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-24
Updated: 2020-10-21
Packaged: 2021-03-06 21:09:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 21,739
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26075443
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SouthyJr/pseuds/SouthyJr
Summary: An endless sea of clouds, stretching even further than the eye can see. Only broken by the colossal World Tree, stretching up towards the heavens. These things are what make up most of the world of Almia. However, even in a world like this, life still flourishes.AKA: A retelling of the plot of Xenoblade Chronicles 2, but using characters from the Pokemon Anime. However, not everything will be the same. Those who already know the game's plot, expect canon divergence!
Comments: 15
Kudos: 16





	1. A Simple Request

**Author's Note:**

> So, this is the first chapter of a fic that has spent literal months in the planning stage. I originally started it because there wasn't anything like it, so I figured I'd write it myself. I'd like to thank Sapphiria for their help with planning and beta reading this fic as well.  
> Anyway, I hope you enjoy!

An endless sea of clouds, stretching even further than the eye can see. Only broken by the colossal World Tree, stretching up towards the heavens. These things are what make up most of the world of Almia. However, even in a world like this, life still flourishes.

Titans, gigantic beings capable of supporting vast and varied ecosystems with only their bodies, live dotted throughout the Cloud Sea. Some swim through the ocean of clouds, surviving by eating anything unfortunate enough to enter their mouths. Others stand tall over the clouds, walking along the shallows beneath them and needing no sustenance but the sun that shines down from above. And finally, some ignore the sea entirely, instead flying above, their only thoughts being where they should fly to next.

But these Titans had been slowly dying out, for the past 500 years. Humanity was running out of the very land that they live on. And it is from here that a tale of adventure, bonds and power begins.

* * *

“Hey, Dragonite, are we there yet?” a youthful voice asked.

“Ash, I am aware that you have a job to turn in and money to give to Pallet,” answered an elderly voice from the Titan known as Dragonite. “But if you ask me that question every ten minutes I am more inclined to slow down so you can learn some patience.”

The owner of the youthful voice, Ash Ketchum, merely crossed his arms and sulked at the response he was given. The boy was wearing a white t-shirt, covered by a black vest jacket with a thick yellow V across the centre. His trousers were a light shade of blue, with two pockets on each side, and he had red and black trainer shoes with white soles on his feet. His hair was a wild and spiky raven colour, and on top of it rested a baseball cap. The bill and sides of the hat were red with black in between, and the front of the cap had a small circle with an arch going over it, both colored blue. Ash’s hands were covered by black fingerless gloves, with green cuffs around his wrists.

Over his clothes were various pieces of armour. His left shoulder was covered by a small, blue pauldron, with a rerebrace underneath covering his left upper arm. While his right arm was not as armoured, he had a small leather vambrace covering the back of his arm below the elbow.

Dragonite was a large reptilian-looking Titan, with scales of a creamy beige colour. On his head there were two small antennae, and a small horn slightly behind them. Almost the entire rest of his body was hidden beneath the cloudy ocean, save for the top of his back. Said back was where Ash was currently sitting, outside of the small metal hut that served as his bedroom when travelling on the Titan.

As Ash sulked, a high-pitched voice could be heard laughing next to him. A sound that, to any onlookers, would sound distinctly like a repeated “Pika!” noise. To Ash, however, the noise sounded much more like normal laughter. The one responsible for the uproar was Ash’s Blade, Pikachu. 

A Blade is a creature awakened from a core crystal by a Driver. They grant their driver enhanced physical abilities, as well as a weapon unique to that Blade. For example, Pikachu’s weapon was a small electric knife, a weapon that Ash had great skill with. In addition to the enhanced physical abilities and weapon, a Driver also had the advantage of being the only human able to understand their Blade.

The Blade in question was a small and yellow creature, who was vaguely mouse-like in form. His cheeks had red spots on them, and was where most of his electricity was stored. He had a tail in the shape of a lightning bolt which got thicker towards the end. On its back it had three stripes of brown fur. Its ears had black tips, and lastly it had a core crystal in its chest with the design of a blue lightning bolt.

Upon hearing Pikachu’s laughter, Ash gave the mouse a sharp look. Pikachu’s response was to answer, _“Maybe if you didn’t sulk so much, I wouldn’t have any reason to laugh!”_ before sticking his tongue out as a last act of defiance.

“Now, now, boys, don’t start fighting or I might be tempted to tip you two into the clouds!” Dragonite cut in with a small laugh. “My old legs are getting tired, so we might have to stop off somewhere closer before we reach the archipelago, sorry about that.”

 _“Any ideas, Ash?”_ Pikachu asked his Driver.

“Hmm… I’m not sure,” he replied, before spotting a blue Titan flying in the distance. “Wait, I think that’s the Wailord Trade Guild! We can head there if you need to stop, Dragonite.”

Dragonite replied, “Well, that sounds just fine to me. I’ll be glad to give my weary old bones a rest.”

Ash pointed his arm forward before exclaiming, “To the trade guild we go! Dragonite, onward!”

 _“Onward!”_ echoed Pikachu, after jumping on top of Ash’s head and copying the pointing motion.

Dragonite chuckled at the antics of the pair, before deciding to play along, replying, “Onward it is then! Full speed ahead!” as he began swimming toward the Titan in the distance.

* * *

Eventually, Dragonite drew close enough to the guild that it became fully visible to him and his passengers. “Only a few minutes left now, boys!” the old titan said, anticipating what Ash had been about to ask. All three people present then looked towards the guild.

The Wailord Trade Guild consisted of a large ship, coloured in various shades of red with gold highlights, attached by tethers to a pod of whale-like titans that lazily flew above the clouds. The largest one was known as Wailord and was the titan from which the guild took its name. It had a light blue top and a bright grey underside, with wrinkles starting from its chin and ending half-way down its body. It had two pairs of blue fins, a blue tail and lastly a pair of grey fins just underneath its tail. The rest of the titans were all smaller, and known as Wailmer titans. They all had a dark blue upper half with a beige underside. The underside also had wrinkles going along it, much like Wailord. Lastly, they all had a pair of dark blue fins.

After five final minutes of travel, Dragonite finally came to a stop next to a dock within the main port area of the guild. Ash used that time to lock up his hut, before letting Pikachu climb on his shoulder, then jumping off of Dragonite’s back once everything was secured.

As Ash walked into the guild, he glanced around, looking at the usual hustle and bustle of the ground floor, which functioned as the central trading hub of the guild. Hundreds of people were milling about, from shopkeepers trying to sell their wares, to various different customers looking for a bargain. Elsewhere, workers transported large crates of goods, some to be registered after delivery and some to be loaded onto Titan ships for transportation around the world.

Ash approached the mercenary board, which was covered in various posters advertising jobs that had been requested, as well as the rewards for said jobs, ranging from money to priceless objects. However, the board itself was not what interested Ash. Instead, he headed over to the counter next to the board, in order to talk to the clerk there and report on a mission he had just completed.

“Welcome back, Ash! You and Pikachu been on any daring quests lately?” the young man at the counter asked.

 _“It wasn’t supposed to be one, but this idiot just couldn’t seem to stop being a trouble magnet!”_ Pikachu responded, just before Ash could give an answer. The response was accompanied by a mildly exasperated look.

“Pikachu, there’s no point in giving me sass when others can’t understand it,” Ash reminded his partner. “But to answer your question, we ended up with a bit more than we bargained for this time.”

The clerk replied, “Don’t you always say that? Oh well, at least you’re still alive! Anyway, I should probably start actually doing my job now. So, how can I help you?”

* * *

Once Ash had finished claiming his reward for the job, he headed back to Dragonite in order to store some of his newfound wealth within the hut. However, while on the way there, a scream could be heard, interrupting his and Pikachu’s conversation. Ash rushed over to find the source of the screams, only to see a large crab-like monster standing over a salvager, with its claws raised in a threatening manner.

The monster’s shell was a light blue, with an orange underbelly and beige legs. It had six legs, as well as a pair of large blue claws that could easily break the bones of any person unfortunate enough to be in their grasp.

Taking the initiative, Ash drew his knife with his right hand, while thrusting his left hand forward. “Everyone, get back!” he yelled, “I can handle this!” As he said that, Pikachu ran up Ash’s raised arm and jumped off it, leaping high into the air. Ash responded to Pikachu’s jump with a shout of, “Pikachu! Thunderbolt!”

Pikachu’s body lit up with the golden glow of his electricity, before a bolt lanced out and hit the monster, lighting it up with electricity as hundreds of volts surged through its body. The surprise of the shock, combined with the sudden pain, gave the salvager a chance to escape. “Thank you so much!” he yelled as he ran out of the monster’s reach.

Once Pikachu stopped shocking the giant crab, he landed next to Ash, before activating the ether link that allowed Ash’s knife to truly function as a weapon. _“Do you really have to fight Ash? I could handle this thing on my own, especially if you gave me my weapon,”_ Pikachu said towards his Driver.

“No chance, Partner. I could use the chance to get my blood flowing, especially after that boring trip of ours.”

_“Fine, but you better save some hits for me at least!”_

As their small exchange was happening, the monster slowly came back to its senses after the sudden shock. Upon seeing this, Pikachu took his position behind Ash. Pikachu got ready to boost Ash through their link, as well as staying alert in case Ash needed a barrier to save him.

Ash charged towards the monster, the Thunder Knife held in a reverse grip. Upon noticing the Driver’s approach, the monster attempted to lash out by swinging its left claw. But Ash saw it coming from a mile away, and was able to dodge towards the right side of the creature, retaliating with a swing of his weapon. While the slash itself did not cut very deep, the charge flowing along the blade was able to hurt the monster, and ignored it's hard exoskeleton.

Taking further advantage of the opening, Ash landed many more cuts on the back and sides of the crab with his Arts. Growing increasingly agitated with all the hits, the monster spun around to face Ash before weaving around his next few swings. Upon seeing this, the Driver decided to make some space between himself and the monster.

The monster took the opportunity to shoot high pressure streams of water from its claws. Ash ducked to the left, only taking a glancing blow to the right of his torso. ‘I forgot how annoying these things are to fight,’ Ash grumbled to himself. He then called out to his partner to send more ether through their link, which Ash promptly used to send a bolt towards the still-firing streams of water. The charge conducted down the streams, the monster not smart enough to realise what was about to happen. When the charge reached it, the crustacean was shocked from the inside out.

Upon seeing the crab’s weakened state, Ash decided it was time for the finisher. “Pikachu, let's end it with Volt Assault!”

_“About time I got to do something! Let’s go!”_

With the plan now decided, the duo launched into the familiar motions of their special technique. Ash ran up to the monster while Pikachu charged an orb of electricity by his tail, throwing it so that it soared past Ash and exploded into sparks against the shell of the monster. Ash followed up with super-charged swings of his knife, dealing more damage than he had been doing before. As Ash was slicing away, Pikachu started building up electricity within his body. When he finished charging, he dashed forward, surrounded by a golden cone of pure voltage while yelling “VOLT TACKLE!”

Upon hearing Pikachu’s yell, Ash tensed his legs, then jumped away at the very last second. The monster was knocked away by the force, on its final legs. Ash and Pikachu released a joint shout of “THUNDER”/ _”THUNDER!”_ and launched the largest bolt yet, powered by both the Thunder Knife and Pikachu’s own natural reserves. Upon being hit with this final attack, the monster let out a screech and met its end.

The crowd that had gathered around the scene, made of both people that were there from the start and people that came to see a fight, all cheered as the monster died. As soon as there was confirmed to be no threat, employees of the guild came to clear the body away, making preparations to send some of the meat to the kitchen of the guild’s Inn.

As Ash put his weapon away and dusted off his clothes, he was approached by one of the chairman’s assistants. “Greetings, Ash Ketchum. Chairman Viren has requested your presence in his office at the start of the next hour,” she said to Ash after managing to get his attention.

  
Ash responded, “Am I in trouble or something? I don’t think I’ve broken any guild rules.”

Unperturbed by the response, the assistant replied, “No, you have not committed any offenses. The Chairman merely wishes to personally give a request for a job, and would like you to meet the clients beforehand.”

 _“Well, that sounds interesting…”_ Pikachu cut in.

“It does, it’s almost kind of exciting!” Ash said to Pikachu, before turning to the assistant once more and asking, “I’m guessing you don’t have any idea what this job will be?”

“No, I have not been informed about that,” she answered. “My job was simply to request your presence for the meeting. I will take your prior answer as a sign of agreement, and inform the Chairman. Thank you for honouring his request.”

“No problem!” came Ash’s final call, ending the conversation as the assistant turned away. “Now, Pikachu, let's head back to old man Dragonite and store some of this money away!”

* * *

After telling Dragonite about the meeting, Ash and Pikachu passed the time by eating at one of the guild’s many food shops, before finally heading up to the office of Chairman Viren. As he entered the extravagant red and gold door, he glanced around the room, having never been inside it before. Most of the room was decorated in the same red as the rest of the guild, but a shade lighter and clearly much better maintained. Over the top of the red walls were various flourishes of gold, both paint and the metal, as well as various paintings depicting famous guild deals that had helped it grow over the past 550 years since its founding. On the right wall there was a large set of double doors that were currently closed, but led to a meeting room with a large desk that was used for only the most important of events. Lastly, at the back of the room was Viren’s desk, the man himself sat behind it. The desk was glossy brown colour, and had all sorts of gadgets and paperwork spread out messily over its surface.

The chairman was a bald, bearded and portly man of average height, clad in only a shirt, shorts and a pair of sandals, with various gold rings adorning his fingers. The shirt was black in colour, with various yellow lighting bolt patterns along the chest and shoulders, a colour scheme copied by his sandals. Lastly, his shorts were a deep purple colour.

Upon Ash reaching the centre of the room, Viren finally decided to address him. “There ya’ are, boy! I was beginning to worry that you wouldn’t show up, and would end up embarrassing the both of us in front of my esteemed guests!” he let out with a hearty chuckle, insincerity clear in his voice. “Now that you’re finally here, let’s me and you have a chat about that job offer, yeah?”

  
Upon hearing Viren’s tone, Ash muttered, “I was here on time though…” to himself.

Viren continued talking, either disregarding Ash’s comment or not hearing it at all over his own voice. “To start, this is a hybrid guard/retrieval job, since I know you are oh so fond of those jobs. A small group of very wealthy clients approached me and asked for my assistance in forming a small but elite salvaging crew in order to pick up a sunken ship, and they requested someone from the Tentacool Archipelago. However, there are no salvagers on hand at the moment that fits that description, and this task is very time sensitive,” Viren explained.

“Ok, but even though I’m from the archipelago, I have no clue how to salvage. Why am I being called?” Ash interrupted.

“I was going to get to that, but first I think ya should meet the clients for this job before ya go make any decisions,” Viren shot back, before motioning to the door, one of his female assistants opening it as the man made the gesture.

The door opened to reveal the meeting room behind it, mostly shrouded in darkness as only the lights by the back of the room were turned on. Five figures walked through the now fully open door, all entering the room with an almost ominous composure to them.

The first to enter was a tall man with pale, almost white skin, as well as long teal hair and purple eyes. His torso was covered by armour plates of a dull white colour, that started from his collarbone and ended at the bottom of the abdominal area. Underneath the armour he had a tight top of a similar colour, that extended down his upper arms and ended in a skintight circle just before his elbow. On his hands he wore tight gloves, coloured a faint purple. On his legs he had slightly baggy trousers, in the same colour as his gloves. His shoes were a light grey. Sheathed on his back was a double bladed sword, that split in half part way along the hilt for easier storage. Lastly, he had a thick purple belt around his waist.

The next two people to walk in were a young looking girl only slightly taller than Ash, her Blade alongside her. The girl was a brunette with brown eyes. Her hair had a relatively short cut that ended just above her shoulders, as well as two protrusions of almost wing-like hair on the top. Her torso was covered by a thick light green turtleneck, which fully covered both her arms, only ending off at her wrists. Her legs were covered by white trousers, that puffed out slightly at the bottom. She had a sword sheathed at each hip.

Her Blade was quadrupedal in form. Most of its body was covered by a light blue fur, other than it having white fur on the bottom of its face. The white fur went down its neck to its underbelly and carried on slightly to the inside of its legs. Scattered among its blue fur were various diamond-shaped patches of white fur. It had two tails that floated around its body like streamers, with one at each side. Coming off the top of its head was a large horn that started out as two separate pieces before joining at the top, its shape vaguely forming a crystal. Its core crystal was at the bottom of its neck. Lastly, it had a large mane of flowing purple fur that came out from behind its horn and covered most of its back.

The last two figures to emerge were another pair made of a Driver and a Blade. The Driver’s body was completely covered by a black cloak, the only recognisable features being what appeared to be a white tuft of hair, as well as a red eye.

The Blade had a dark grey neck and torso with two sharp blades coming out of it, and a core crystal just above them. Its upper legs and shoulders were both a deep red. Its lower legs and feet were a bright silver, the same colour as the blades within its chest. Its arms were the same dark grey as its torso, and its hands were polished silver, much like its feet. The bottom of its head was grey, while the top of its head was the same red as its shoulders. Its face was yellow, and took up a small portion of the grey on the front of its head. Finally, it had a large blade horn coming out of the front of its head, that was mostly yellow, with a silver edge at the very front.

After all five figures had fully entered the room, a tension fell over the room until Viren broke it by breaking out into a loud laugh and continuing his speech. “As you can see, boy, this fine group here are your employers for this mission. Now, I believe you asked why you were requested, seeing as you have no experience salvaging. Lucky for you, that’s not why you were asked. All they needed was someone from the Tentacool Archipelago to accompany them. And when I heard you were here after that little commotion you helped cause earlier, I thought ‘Why not ask the Thunder Child himself!’”

The cloaked figure followed up after he was sure Viren had finished his monologue. “That’s pretty much the general idea, kid. As for specifics, you are to act as an extra guard during the voyage, and once the vessel has been brought up, you are to accompany us inside to assist with obtaining a specific object. Is that acceptable?”

As Ash was about to answer, Viren cut him off, jumping into another long speech. “Before you accept the job, I feel like I should take it upon my generous self to tell you about your reward! The total is 100,000 gold upon acceptance, and another 100,000 upon completion!”

Ash and Pikachu’s jaws both dropped as they both yelled “A HUNDRED THOUSAND!/ _A HUNDRED THOUSAND!”_ in shock.

Upon hearing the pair yell, the female driver simply laughed in response, before turning to her companions and saying, “So this is the great ‘Thunder Child’? At least the ‘Child’ part seems to be accurate! Hey, Alamos, Fuji, are we sure he’s the one? I know he’s a driver, but that doesn’t guarantee his skill.”

The teal haired man, Fuji, glanced at the girl before responding, “Well, Bianca, if we were judging only on looks then you wouldn’t fare much better, would you?”

“Yeah, what he said!” Ash cut in, annoyed at both the use of his disliked title and the general mocking.

The cloaked driver, Alamos, finally took the chance to join the exchange. He had a smug tone, contrary to what his dark appearance would suggest. “Come on now Fuji, don’t be mean to the little lady,” he scolded, “She does have a point though. We saw that fight earlier, but that was a weak monster. If you truly want to see what he can do, then…” he said as he drew his weapon, revealing it to be a large chakram, “JUST WATCH!”

He charged at Ash, who jumped back while drawing his knife as Pikachu hopped off his shoulder. As Alamos had the initiative, all Ash could do at first was dodge and parry attacks from both his cloaked form and from his Blade, Bisharp. Eventually, Alamos overcommitted to a swing while Bisharp was preoccupied with Pikachu, and Ash used the opening to get beneath Alamos’s guard and finally gain momentum with an attack.

Only for the Chakram’s ether blade to fizzle out and reform as a shield in front of Alamos, blocking Ash’s swing and landing both Drivers in a stalemate as their Blades watched; both unwilling to move for fear of leaving an opening that could be used against their Driver. “What the hell are you doing!? If attacking me is your idea of a job interview, I can’t say I’m a huge fan!” Ash yelled at Alamos.

“Well, it doesn’t really matter if you’re a fan or not, because I’d say you passed! At least, if the little lady over there was impressed enough,” was the sly response from Alamos, his cloak having somehow remained in place the entire skirmish.

“Yeah, I suppose he’s good enough,” said Bianca, as she rolled her eyes at the tone Alamos used.

Viren used that moment to insert himself back into the conversation. “Well, now that the two of you have finished trying to damage my expensive office, could ya please give your answer about the job, boy?”

“As much as I don’t appreciate being attacked out of nowhere, I’ll take the job. The money will be useful for sending back home,” came Ash’s slightly resigned response.

Wanting to finish the meeting as soon as possible, Fuji was the one that answered Ash. “Ok then. Here is the advance payment,” he said, passing Ash a small-but-heavy bag filled with money. “ We will be departing in one hour on the Maelstrom ship. It's currently docked at the main port. Don’t be late.”

“Well, since we've sorted that business, I’d love it if you’d all leave my office. Now, if ya please,” Viren said with a sense of finality. The others complied, not wanting to spend any extra time in there than necessary.

After leaving the office, Bianca called for Ash’s attention one more time before leaving. “Just remember, we’re leaving in an hour. You have until then to make any preparations!”

“Yeah, lady, I heard. Don’t worry, I’ll be there. I’ve never missed out on a job yet, and I don’t intend to start now. After all, that one hundred thousand reward is waiting for me!” Ash said.

“I still can’t believe you’re so excited over a measly hundred grand, but oh well. Come on Suicune, let’s go. I’ve got some preparations to make myself.” Bianca and her Blade then turned to leave.

Before they were out of earshot, however, Pikachu decided to get in one last barb. _“Hey, ya big dog! Tell your Driver that Ash and I could beat her in a fight any day!”_

 _“Whilst I apologise for my lady’s rudeness, I do believe your claim to be incorrect. However, we have no time now, so that matter must be left for another day,”_ was the response of the blue-furred Blade, before he and Bianca finally walked away, leaving Ash and Pikachu to gather supplies.

* * *

“And that’s the job! What do you think, Gramps?” Ash asked, having just explained his newest mission to Dragonite.

“Well my boy, I’m hurt that you’ve decided I’m not good enough for this job!” the old Titan teased, “But it sounds like a good offer, taking it was probably a good choice. Although I hope you won’t be offended if I follow behind a bit, if I left you alone then your mother would probably try and rip the scales off my back!”

“Yeah, sure, that’s fine. I know how scary mum and Mimey can be when they want to be,” Ash answered, secretly pleased that he’d have his travel guardian watching his back.

 _“That woman is probably the only person to survive getting between me and ketchup. She’s scary alright. But it’ll be good to have you along, old man! Means we’ll be fine if this idiot gets out of his depth. Again,”_ Pikachu contributed.

Ash groaned at the comment. “Yes, Pikachu, I know i have a habit of getting into trouble sometimes, but we always come out unscathed, right? If anything does happen, it’ll be like that this time as well, trust me.”

 _“Well, I suppose you haven’t been wrong yet. But that’s enough dark talk, let’s go prepare and then send the rest of the money back to Pallet!”_ Pikachu said.

“Off we go then!” Ash said as he walked off, leaving Dragonite alone again.

As he watched the two leave, Dragonite had only a single thought running through his head. ‘So, he’s come back, and is calling himself Fuji now… I hope Ash isn’t getting in over his head with this job.’

* * *

Ash used a small amount of the advance payment to buy a new core chip to upgrade Pikachu’s weapon, as well as getting a small amount of travel food for the journey. After making his purchases, he approached the guild’s primary courier.

“Hi Ash,” he greeted, as another worker familiar with the boy. “How much are you gonna be sending back to Pallet today?”

“I just got a big job from the chairman, so it’s a fair bit more than normal! I’ve got eighty thousand to send today,” the young Driver answered.

“Must be an important job then! I’ll put this in the ‘important’ category, I’m sure we’d both prefer if this much didn’t sit around for too long,” the courier said.

“Thanks!” Ash said as he handed over the money, before leaving for the docks, aiming to arrive at the ship early and avoid a last minute rush.

When he arrived at the docks, he saw a crowd of people gathered by the boat, made entirely of salvagers loading their gear and sailors readying the boat for the voyage. Spotting Fuji, Bianca and Suicune, he headed over to them, to let them know he was there early.

Fuji noticed him first. “Good, you’re here. It looks like the preparations are ahead of schedule, so since you are here we will be leaving as soon as they are complete.”

Bianca was next to talk to him. “Huh, seems like you might have some sense after all, getting ready early instead of leaving it all to the last minute,” she remarked.

“Well, punctuality is an important part of my job. I get less money if I leave clients waiting, after all!” Ash answered.

Alamos, having just walked over, got the attention of the group. “The captain just let me know that they’re pretty much ready. Get on board everyone,” he said, before glancing at Bianca. “And I hope you don’t get seasick!”

The group of Drivers and Blades boarded the ship, Bianca grumbling at Alamos as she did so. The ship set off not long after, headed towards the salvage site, as Dragonite followed close behind, avoiding detection.

Little did anyone know, this simple trip would lead to something much bigger than anyone could anticipate.


	2. Not-so-Smooth Sailing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Having left the trade guild, Ash and his employers travel towards the salvage coordinates.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we go with chapter 2! I hope you enjoy!

After the Maelstrom had been sailing for close to an half an hour, the watch schedule was finally established. While most of the salvagers worked as pairs during watch shifts, his status as a Driver meant they were content for Ash to work alone, so he was given the job of watching the Crow’s Nest between late evening and the middle of the night. 

The shift was uneventful, Ash seeing almost nothing except Dragonite’s silhouette among the clouds, as well as a strange black ship heading in the same direction as the Maelstrom, but far enough behind that Ash wasn’t concerned about it.

 _“Ash, I’m bored, when does this shift finish? I’m tired!”_ Ash’s Blade said, breaking the silence that had surrounded the pair for the last half-hour.

“Sleep here if you want, Pikachu. I can handle the rest of the time on my own, and I’ll wake your lazy arse up if anything happens,” Ash replied.

Pikachu, already half-asleep as soon as Ash gave permission, said, _“I resent that remark…”_ as he drifted off to sleep, leaving Ash the only waking soul in the Nest.

It stayed that way for five more minutes, before Bianca entered the Nest, catching Ash’s attention. “Your shift’s over now, kid, you can go. The salvagers have just started drinking, if you want to join them.”

“My name is Ash, you know,” Ash started, “And I’d rather not join if they’re drinking. Besides that, I’m… not technically old enough, and mum would kill me if she found out.”

“Ok then, Ash. My name is Bianca, by the way, before you get any funny ideas about calling me names,” the girl responded. ”And I know ‘Child’ is a part of your title, but just how young _are_ you?”

“I’m 16, if you really must know. I’ve been doing mercenary work since I was 11, although I wasn’t on my own back then,” Ash answered.

“You really are a child… I kind of thought you were just small and baby-faced. Why the bloody hell did you start being a mercenary so young!? It’s not exactly a friendly business for most,” Bianca said, shocked at Ash’s true age.

Ash took a moment to think about the question. “Honestly, I just wanted to help people. Things these days are hard enough, and I wanted to ease the burden on people’s lives. Becoming a Driver was easy as well, since I’ve had Pikachu’s core almost since I was born. And, hey, the pay isn’t bad either. So I can send money back home to Pallet, and still have enough to live nicely.”

“Well I guess that makes sense. Still, to start so young. What did your parents think?” Bianca asked.

“My mum was fine with it, she just made sure I didn’t leave the archipelago until I was strong enough. But I just think she didn’t want to keep me from doing what I wanted,” Ash explained. “As for my dad, well, he died when I was a kid. Mum tells me he was a mercenary too, at least before he met her. Pikachu was his Blade as well, although apparently he was in a form called “Raichu” for my dad.”

“Huh. Can’t say I was expecting that. You’re a good kid Ash, I really hope this world doesn’t take that kindness from you. Wanting to help others is way too rare these days,” replied Bianca. She sighed, before continuing. “Sometimes I almost wish that the story of Ransei was real, and we could all find a haven atop the World Tree. Would certainly solve a lot of problems.”

Ash looked at her with surprise after that. “Really? I was almost certain that you’d think it was just a silly children’s tale! It would be amazing if I could reach it someday, it would be the best thing I could ever do to help Almia. But without proof that it exists, I can’t afford to be distracted like that. I’ll just keep doing what I can to help people,” Ash said, before letting out a large yawn.

“If you say so, ‘Thunder Child’. It’s supposed to be my turn at watch now, so you might want to head off to sleep. Need you in top form for when the salvage is done, after all!” Bianca responded, bringing an end to the conversation.

Ash wordlessly picked up the sleeping Pikachu into his arms and descended from the Crow’s Nest. He headed towards his room for some much needed rest.

* * *

Ash and Pikachu were both woken by the rocking of the boat, accompanied by the sound of pouring rain. This disturbance was followed shortly by a knock at their door, courtesy of Alamos. “Hey, kid! The salvagers are busy raising the target vessel, so you might want to get a move on and be ready to board when it comes up!”

Alamos didn’t bother waiting for a response, and his heavy footfalls were heard by the Blade and Driver through the door, getting quieter with every step. The newly awakened pair both shook off any lingering tiredness, and after Ash put his armour back on over his clothes, they left the cabin and headed to the top deck where Fuji, Alamos, Bianca and the two Blades were waiting.

Fuji noticed his presence first. “Ah, there they are. You’re just in time.”

“Just in time for what?” Ash asked.

“The big show, of course!” was what Alamos replied with, all while making a grand gesture with his arms.

And what a show it was. Just as Alamos finished speaking, a dark grey ship, larger than even the Maelstrom, rose up from beneath the clouds. The entire hull was made of metal panels, finely welded together to ensure the vessel was water-tight, even after being submerged for centuries.. There were intricate carvings all over the sides, as well on the figurehead at the front of the ship, which showed that the original owner of the ship had a lot of wealth to their name. Lastly, every surface had a unique-looking emblem, consisting of a small circle, with an almost wing-like shape over the top of it.

While Ash, Pikachu and Bianca were stunned by the sight of the enormous vessel, Fuji began speaking to Alamos. “It would appear that this is the vessel we are looking for.”

“That it does. Lets just hope that it has our target inside,” Alamos confirmed.

As soon as the ancient ship was secured above the clouds, the salvagers and Drivers all boarded the top deck after clearance was given by the head salvager. “All groups, form up!” he shouted. “All salvagers are to clear the rooms on the top deck, while our clients explore and clear the lower decks, understood!?”

“YES, CAPTAIN!” came the combined shout of all the salvagers, before they all headed towards their assigned posts.

“A noisy lot, aren’t they?” Bianca commented.

“Yes, they are a rather rowdy bunch, my lady,” Suicune answered.

Ash was mostly unbothered by the noise. “Eh, you get used to it if you work with them enough. I’ve worked with this lot before on some more dangerous jobs, so I’ve learnt to block it out,” he said to Bianca.

 _“Well, good for you, Ash. Some of us have sensitive hearing, and blocking it out isn’t that easy,”_ Pikachu said towards his driver while wincing.

Fuji decided to take control of the situation, cutting in by saying, “That’s enough talk. We’re heading into the ship now.”

However, just as the group approached the main door into the lower decks, they were broken open by a large and angry insectoid monster. Just as Ash was about to draw his weapon, he was stopped by the still-cloaked Alamos. “You’ve already had some fun today, back at the guild. Now it’s our turn for a warm up.”

Alamos, Bianca and Fuji all drew their weapons. This was followed by Alamos’s Ferrous Chakram and Bianca’s Aqua Twinblades lighting up with ether as Bisharp and Suicune activated the ether link.

Fuji was the first to charge at the monster, his double-bladed sword slicing out almost faster than the eye could follow. His swing cut a deep gash in the exoskeleton of the creature, but didn’t take any time to admire the damage he caused. Instead, he spun his blade, landing a second blow with the weapon’s other edge. He kept up the motion, his weapon now a windmill of blades creating multiple lacerations on the beast’s body. He kept the motion up for a few more seconds, before jumping back as Alamos ran towards the monster.

Alamos and Bisharp were very quick to continue the harsh assault, with waves of darkness, supplied by Bisharp, surging off of the Chakram. Alamos threw the weapon at the monster, the ether blade cutting off one of its front legs off, causing it to lose its balance as the Chakram returned to Alamos’s hand. In retaliation, the monster tried to whip its antennae at the cloaked man, only for the attack to bounce uselessly off of the weapon’s shield mode. Alamos leapt back as he passed his weapon to Bisharp with the call, “Night Slash!” Bisharp slashed the monster with both the weapon and various blades on its body before retreating, just like his Driver.

Bianca and Suicune pounced towards the giant insect, intent on dealing the finishing blows to the creature. As Bianca’s swords cut into its sides, it was able to land a lucky hit on the Driver with one of its sharp legs, creating a large cut on her shoulder and knocking her back slightly. However, she quickly used a healing art, sealing up the wound as if it had never been there. Now angered by the fact that she let her guard down enough to be hit, she attacked the beast with the ferocity of an angered dragon.

Seeing the monster on its last legs, Bianca passed the swords to Suicune for a special, accompanied with the command, “Suicune! Liquidation!” Upon hearing the command, Suicune grabbed one sword in each of his ribbon-like tails, before slashing the air with them. As the swords cut through the air, they two blades of sharpened water ether, which flew towards the monster and cut deep into its hide, killing it as the impact launched the body into the Cloud Sea.

As the three fighters sheathed their weapons, Ash and Pikachu ran up to them, with excited faces. “You guys are really good!” Ash started. “I kind of guessed after Alamos attacked me at the guild, by seeing all three of you was really cool!”

“Hey, you ain’t seen nothing yet, kid. Besides, I’m pretty sure even you could have handled that easily. Maybe save the praise for after beating something tougher,” Alamos said, a smug tone to his voice.

“It did feel good to get the blood flowing though, even you have to admit that, right Alamos?” Bianca cut in.

“Bianca does have a point. It may only be a light one, but this warm up will make us more effective when searching,” Fuji said. “Anyway, now that we’ve dealt with that small problem, we should begin properly searching the ship. Follow me.”

After he had finished speaking everyone did as Fuji said, the group of Drivers and Blades following him inside the large doors.

* * *

The ancient ship was largely empty of any valuables, as most had either been destroyed by either the aquatic monsters that called the ship home, or during whatever event had caused the vessel to sink in the first place. Just like the outside, the innards of the ship consisted of dark grey metal walls and floors, only broken by the time-damaged navigation systems and various light sources that had turned on after Pikachu supplied the ship with some power.

“Damn, this place seems almost bigger on the inside. Where the hell is it…” Alamos said, frustrated that they had found nothing of importance, despite having been in the ship for an hour already.

“Patience, Alamos. We know it’s here, so long as we keep looking we will find it eventually.” Fuji replied, trying to calm his companion.

Bianca cut between the pair and asked, “What the hell are we looking for here anyway? Normally you always tell me, Fuji, and not knowing is kind of getting to me now.”

“Wait, Bianca, you don’t know either?” Ash said, slightly shocked. “I kind of figured that I wouldn’t be told, since i’m just hired help. But they really didn’t tell you either?”

“Nope. This was a short notice mission, so all I know is that it’s important to the both of them. As curious as I am, that’s all I really need. They’ll tell me what it is and why it’s important after we’ve secured it.” Bianca answered.

 _“That is a very mature attitude to take, my lady. Quite unlike you, if I may be so bold,”_ Suicune dared to say.

Pikachu started laughing as Bianca just blushed. “Dammit Suicune, was that really necessary!?” the female Driver yelled.

Still laughing, Pikachu said, _“Wow, calling out your own Driver! Glad to see I’m not the only one that does that!”_

Ash, having only understood what Bianca and Pikachu had said, just gave a confused shrug. “Well, buddy, at least you admit it.”

Just as Pikachu was about to reply to his Driver, the mouse-like Blade got cut off by a call from Alamos, who had walked ahead of the group while the conversation occurred. “Hey, slackers and Fuji! I think I finally found it. And boy, get the hell over here now!”

As soon as Alamos had finished shouting, the rest of the group jogged over to his location, and saw that he had found a large door that looked much more detailed than the rest of the ship, clearly showing that there was something of importance behind it. However, in front of the door was a bulky shark-like monster that the group would need to slay in order to reach their goal.

For once the group had the luxury of being the ones initiating the fight. Taking full advantage of that fact, Ash, Bianca and their Blades quietly maneuvered to the sides of the monster, so that they could attack from behind it after Alamos and Fuji got its attention. Seeing that the group were in position, Alamos threw his chakram at the monster with a cry of, “Hey, ugly!” The attack only dealt a flesh wound and only caused an itch as opposed to actual pain, but it was more than enough to gather the ire of the aquatic creature. It’s focus now solely on Alamos and Bisharp, all other combatants leaped into action, hoping the combined effort would make the fight a short one.

Ash and Bianca both charged at the tail end of the creature and swung their weapons. Ash’s blade pierced the it’s leathery hide and cut down its tail, charged flowing through the blade the whole time and making up for the knife’s shot length. Bianca, who had no such issue, struck repeatedly with Suicune’s dual swords by alternating strikes between the left and right, before finishing her combo with a blast of water from the swords.

The monster’s tail swung towards Ash in an instinctive defensive motion. Ash avoided most of the impact, but the sharp fin at the end caught his side. Noticing this, Bianca quickly sent a wave of healing ether from the swords, sealing the cut as if it was never there. Once Ash had shaken off the pain, he launched a blast of electrical ether before moving in to attack once more.

While Ash and Bianca continued their assault on the tail end of the monster, Fuji focused on attacking its left side. The hide of the beast was too thick to use the same strategy as he used on the insect before, so instead he focused on landing precision strikes, hoping to immobilise the monster.

While all that was happening, Alamos dealt with the brunt of the monster’s attacks. He swung the chakram back and forth in between dodging some of the smaller attacks sent at him. When faced with an attack that he couldn’t dodge, he instead hunkered down with his weapon in shield mode and blocked. This pattern repeated a few more times, until the monster flinched as Pikachu sent some electricity down a particularly vulnerable nerve. Alamos took advantage of the flinch and began to spin with his weapon held out in front of him. As the rotation speed increased more blows landed per second, until the cloaked Driver stopped the rotation, dealing one final strike with full power.

With the monster now on its last legs, it got desperate and whipped its tail around, trying to get the attackers away from its body. While the attack did force the group to all jump back, it only delayed the inevitable. Ash, Bianca and Alamos all fired blasts of elemental ether from their weapons, and Fuji finished it with a stab to the head. As it was overloaded with ether when it died, the monster dissolved into ether particles, leaving no body behind.

After everyone had taken a few moments to calm down, they all gathered in front of the door. In stark contrast to the rest of the ship, it wasn’t just the standard grey metal. While that did indeed form most of it, there were various embellishments visible, such as trimmings of both gold and azure. Near the middle of the door there was the same emblem that had been visible on the hull of the ship.

Alamos turned to Ash. “You’re up, kid. Go open that door. I’m sure you can figure out how. It’s why you’re here, after all.”

Ash approached the door, looking all around it to see any obvious method of opening it. Having no luck with that, he instead tried pressing his hand against the emblem in the middle. To his surprise, it began to glow and move away from his hand. A loud creaking sound was heard from the door as it slid open, revealing the room beyond it. Ash began walking forward into it.

Said room was mostly empty, save for a single sword and a small figure contained within a pod. Most of the sword was a light blue, save for the handle and a small part of the inside, which were a navy colour instead. It had a single edge, and underneath the edge there was a curved guard that started at the top of the handle and met at the bottom. The non-bladed side of the sword had three light blue protrusions, with the first one starting just above the grip. After the third one, the edge continued up, meeting the bladed side at the tip. Just below the blade was an emerald crystal, shaped like a cross.

The small figure had a light blue head, with two small ears extending out the top. Its eyes had red irises, and were surrounded by black fur, almost forming a mask-like shape. Coming off of the black fur on its face were two appendages, one on each side. Around its neck was a small yellow ‘collar’ of fur. The top of its torso was covered in more black fur, which ended off in two spikes, before leading to more light blue fur, in the same shape as its face. It’s arms and upper legs were also covered in the same blue fur, and it had a small metal patch on the back of each hand. It had a blue tail going off to the side. Its feet had black fur with small white pads on each toe and its heel. Lastly, the figure had an emerald crystal below its neck, in the same shape as the sword’s crystal.

Ash approached the sword, muttering to himself, “Is this a Blade weapon? The core is a strange colour though…” He reached his right hand forward, almost touching the crystal on the sword.

Alamos noticed it, and called out, “Hey, brat! Don’t touch that!” in an attempt to stop Ash. But the yell took him by surprise, his middle finger accidentally making contact with the crystal, causing it to emit a soft green glow.

Immediately after touching the crystal, Ash felt himself unable to move for a split second before feeling a sharp, searing pain. He looked down to find the cause.

And saw a blade protruding from his chest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...I'm not sorry for that.


	3. Conflict Begins

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ash, having just been stabbed through the chest, wakes up in an unfamiliar location. Meanwhile, Pikachu frets over his unconscious body.

Fuji withdrew his weapon from Ash’s chest, as everyone but Alamos looked on in shock at what he had just done. The teal-haired man flicked his blade to the side, the blood that had clung to the metal flying off with the force of the swing. “I’m sorry, but it had to be done,” Fuji muttered to both himself and Ash, before he destroyed the sword that Ash had just touched. He started walking away from the boy, whose consciousness was slowly fading.

Pikachu was the first to recover from his shock. He let out a threatening growl in a shockingly low pitch, before launching himself at Fuji’s back, surrounded by a corona of electricity. Before his attack could land, Alamos blocked the strike with his weapon’s shield mode. Pikachu kept the clash against the shield going, until Bisharp grabbed him by the scruff of his neck and kicked him away. Pikachu was sent sliding along the ground from the force, before he came to a stop next to Ash’s body. Fuji never even turned to look at the small mouse.

The exchange helped Bianca return to her senses, the girl yelling at Fuji. “What the bloody hell was that for!? Why the hell did you feel the need to impale him!?” Not waiting for an answer, she went over to the boy, hoping to heal him. She was able to emit just the smallest amount of healing ether, all aimed at the young Driver, before Alamos stopped her. The cloaked man took the pod containing the small figure, then dragged Bianca out of the chamber, all her protests ignored.

Just before they were out of earshot, Pikachu heard one last thing from Alamos. “It had to be done, kid. Just accept it and move on.”

Now all alone, Pikachu doubled his already tremendous efforts to rouse Ash. _“Hey, buddy, it’s time to get up now. You’ve walked off worse than this, right? I thought you said that everything would be alright this time, just like it always is!”_ Becoming even more desperate, Pikachu began shocking the boy’s body, hoping to restart his heart. Throughout all this, unnoticed by Pikachu, his body started to break down, a sign of Ash’s life completely fading, and Pikachu returning to his core.

After exhausting all of his energy, Pikachu curled up against his Driver. As he did, some healing ether left over from Bianca’s attempt to revive the boy was absorbed by the Driver’s body, extending his life slightly. It granted a mere thirty seconds, both to Ash’s life, and the time before Pikachu returned to his core, his memories of Ash lost to him forever.

But that small amount of time was enough.

Pikachu’s body stopped fading, and instead began to solidify. And starting from his chest, Ash’s body gave off a bright emerald light.

* * *

As all that went on within the chamber, Ash’s mind was elsewhere, separated from his dying body. The boy woke up on a grassy hill, in a clearing surrounded by trees on all sides but one. In the background there was a faint, ever-present ringing sound, like that of a church bell. After taking a moment to assess his surroundings, Ash finally looked to the top of the hill he was on, seeing only a large tree. Wanting to better get his bearings and find out just where he was, the young Driver headed towards it.

As he approached, Ash noticed a small blue and black figure, quickly recognising it as the Blade from the chamber. Wondering why they were both there, he headed directly towards it.

_“Those bells never seem to stop, do they?”_ said the figure, acknowledging Ash’s presence. He had a voice like a young boy. _“I wish they would, but at the same time, they can be so calming,”_ he continued, finally turning to Ash.

“Where is this place, and why are we here?” Ash asked, getting straight to the point. He was slightly unnerved by the fact that Pikachu didn’t seem to be anywhere nearby.

_“This place is Ransei, and it’s my home. At least, it used to be,”_ the small figure answered. _“My name is Riolu, by the way. You didn’t ask, but I can tell you’re curious.”_

“Ok, Riolu,” Ash replied, “But that doesn’t answer my question of why we’re here. And where is Pikachu?”

Riolu took a deep breath, prepared for the potential outburst of answering that question. _“This place is inside my mind. I was able to bring you here with me because you touched the crystal on my sword. As for why, well… your body is dying. You got stabbed through the heart by Fuji, remember?”_

Ash was silent for a few seconds, his mind trying to catch up with what he just heard. Then he began to panic. “But, wait, if I’m dying, then how…” he started. “Hang on… if I’m dying, then what hell is happening to Pikachu!?” Ash turned to address Riolu again. “Please, if you know, please tell me Pikachu is okay! If I’m only dying, and not dead yet, then he won’t have returned to his core yet, right!?”

Riolu answered Ash as calmly as he possibly could. _“Your companion has not yet returned to his crystal. However, unless your body is healed, he will return in mere minutes.”_

“But if you brought me here instead of just letting me die, that must mean you have a way to bring me back, right?” Ash asked, still frantic at the thought of losing his partner.

_“Yes, I do have a way. I can share my life force with yours, giving you half of my crystal and reviving your body. But I also have a condition. I want you to bring me here, to Ransei, at the top of the World Tree in the real world,”_ Riolu confirmed. _“If you accept my condition, and are willing to take my life force, then touch the crystal within my chest. You will be revived, and your partner will not forget you.”_

Ash, now having it confirmed that Pikachu could be saved, calmed significantly, although he was no less hurried. “I accept those terms. I’ll save my partner, beat Fuji for doing this to me, and take you up to Ransei. Since this proves it’s real, there’s no reason not to aim for it!”

Ash knelt down towards Riolu’s small figure, and placed two of his fingers on the crystal below the Blade’s collar. As soon as Ash made contact, a green glow emitted from Riolu’s crystal, followed by an identical one from Ash, as his chest formed a crystal of its own.

* * *

Back in the chamber, the crystal on Ash’s chest finished forming, a perfect X-shape, as it burnt a hole in Ash’s shirt that perfectly matched its shape. A new copy of the sword that had been destroyed by Fuji also appeared in Ash’s hand, before dropping on the floor due to the weakness in Ash’s head.

The glow around Ash’s body came to an abrupt stop as he took a massive gulp of air, his mind now back in his body. The boy attempted to sit up, but before he could do so, Pikachu slammed into him, clinging to the Driver’s clothes, trying not to cry. _“I thought you were gone! I thought I’d have to forget all about you! I don’t want that!”_ the small Blade was able to say between small sobs.

“Don’t worry, partner. I told you I wouldn’t leave that easily, didn’t I?” Ash said, trying to soothe his now tearful Blade. After comforting Pikachu for a few more seconds, Ash lifted the small mouse off of his shirt one hand, picking up the sword, which was Riolu’s Blade weapon, in the other. “We’ll have time to hug later. For now, let’s go and get back at those guys for hurting me. I need to save Riolu as well, I made a promise before he revived me, and I intend to keep it.”

_“Fine, let’s do this. But I have questions later, like WHY THE HELL DO YOU HAVE A CORE CRYSTAL IN YOUR CHEST!?”_ Pikachu yelled. _“And don’t think you can get out of answering them!”_

“Understood, buddy,” Ash confirmed. “For now, what do you say we make a big entrance, let them know they messed with the wrong pair?”

Pikachu was quick to give an affirmative nod, before beginning to channel ether towards Ash. The Driver put Pikachu down, before using that same hand to draw his knife. He then raised both the knife and the sword towards the ceiling, a pillar of bright blue ether combined with a spear of yellow electricity melting a hole in it. The Driver and Blade pair glanced at each other, before taking a great leap just as the pillar finished melting through the metal. Both ready for possibly their hardest fight so far.

* * *

A few seconds earlier, Fuji’s group had just arrived on the deck of the ancient ship. Alamos glanced around, and saw that all the salvagers had returned from the rooms on the outer hull of the ship. Nodding to himself, the cloaked Driver turned to Bianca, and in an uncharacteristically cold tone, uttered a single command. “They’ve done their job. End them.”

“Wait, what!?” she answered, shocked at both the tone of voice and what she had just been asked to do. “They haven’t done anything, what the hell is wrong with you? First you won’t let me heal Ash after Fuji bloody stabbed him, now you want me to kill innocent people!”

“Fine, if you won’t do it then just return to the ship with Fuji. I’ll do it myself, just like always…” Alamos said, reaching his free hand into his cloak, aiming to draw his weapon. However, before he could, the pod he held containing Riolu’s body ignited with wispy azure ether. “WHAT!?” Alamos shouted as he dropped the pod just in time to avoid his cloak being burnt.

The glass on the front of the container burst as a small stream of ether broke from the main mass, rising up before landing on top of the entrance to the lower decks. Upon landing, the ether flared before fading completely, revealing Riolu’s small yet menacing figure. His core crystal was now missing a small portion, an X-shaped gap within it. _“It looks like you two are still around, even after all these years. Fuji and Alamos, was it? If you two are so determined to separate yourselves from the past, those are certainly some odd names to pick!”_

Before either of the two that had just been addressed could retort, everyone noticed that a circular section of the floor began to expand and warp, glowing red with the telltale signs of heat. That sight lasted for only two seconds, before the metal broke open, revealing a pillar of azure ether and golden electricity. Ash and Pikachu leapt out of the gaping hole in the deck of the ship, Ash immediately charging at Fuji the moment he landed while letting out a battle cry.

Riolu began channeling ether to Ash as the Driver swung the small Blade’s sword, held in his right hand. However, before the attack could connect with Fuji, Alamos jumped in and blocked it with his chakram. “Dammit kid, you couldn't just die nicely, could you. Would have saved everyone, even yourself, a whole ton of trouble!” Alamos said through gritted teeth. Beneath his cloak, his visible red eye almost literally glowed with anger. “But no, like the irritating little shit you are, you just had to go and make yourself the driver of the Aegis!”

Ash offered no verbal reply, and swung his other arm at Alamos, trying to get round his guard and land a hit with Pikachu’s knife. Alamos didn’t move, still prioritising blocking the sword. Instead, the knife was blocked by a barrier put up by Bisharp, the force of it knocking Ash’s arm away and putting his posture off balance. Alamos used the opportunity to break the stalemate, driving his weapon forward and knocking Ash fully off balance. Before he could press his advantage to land a hit though, his advance was stopped by barriers from both Pikachu and Riolu.

Ash jumped back, disengaging from the skirmish, and took the chance to yell at Alamos and Fuji. “Stabbing someone in the back isn’t exactly fair, is it!? Why the hell would you even do that, you psychopaths?”

Bianca cut in with her own question once Ash finished. “Yeah, seriously you two. First doing that, then trying to kill everyone else here? What on Almia did they do to deserve that?”

Alamos pointed to Riolu, the blue Blade having jumped down from his higher ground, moving to stand next to Ash and Pikachu. “That Blade there is the Aegis, and the less people that know about it, the better. So after I’m done with you, I need to finish everyone else off to ensure their silence.” Alamos explained. He then turned to Fuji. “I can handle these weaklings, go and get the ship ready. The quicker we get out of here the better,” he said quietly, before finally addressing Bianca specifically. “And if you don’t want to go with us, I’ll have to kill you too!”

As soon as he finished speaking, he charged at Ash, hoping to end the fight in a single attack. But the young Driver didn’t fall for it, parrying the strike with both his weapons and then lashing out with a kick, forcing distance between himself and Alamos once more. Using the few seconds he had, he passed the knife to Pikachu. “Hey buddy, here’s a chance for you to do some of the solo fighting you love so much. Go and distract his Blade for me, would you? I’ll use Riolu’s sword for now, and fight Alamos.”

_“You got it Ash! I owe him some payback for kicking me earlier anyway,”_ Pikachu replied, an almost feral smile spread across his face after hearing Ash’s request. _“Just because he can regenerate, doesn’t mean I can’t hurt him.”_

As Pikachu dashed off towards Bisharp, Riolu looked almost hesitant. _“Are you sure, Ash? Aren’t you more used to his weapon? I can handle myself, you know.”_

Ash just smiled, and said, “Even if it’s been a while, I have trained with swords before. Now, lets go kick his arse!” he exclaimed as he began running towards Alamos.

_“Understood!”_ Riolu called out as he followed Ash back into combat.

Pikachu and Bisharp were the first combatants to meet. Pikachu threw a net of electricity from his tail towards Bisharp, hoping to trap the metal Blade and incapacitate them quickly. In response, Bisharp was able to send slashes of dark ether scything out from their arm blades, cutting the net to pieces, the sparks dispersing in the air. However, Pikachu had used the distraction to approach unnoticed, and slammed an uppercut from his now metal-coated tail into Bisharp’s chin. Pikachu then followed with an electrically charged cut from his knife, going right between the sharp metal on Bisharp’s torso.

Grunting in pain, Bisharp began taking the offensive in an attempt to stop Pikachu from striking. They extended sharp blades from their wrists and covered them with dark ether for extra power, as well as covering their forehead blade with the same ether. Bisharp swung these at Pikachu with great speed, forcing him to dodge all the strikes. Getting frustrated at how the most they were able to do was scratch the smaller figure, Bisharp launched an attack with both arms at once, taking away Pikachu’s movement options. The small Blade was able to block both the arms with his knife and metallic tail, but Bisharp had planned for that. They headbutted Pikachu with their head blade, cutting into him and launching him into the deck of the ship with a painful thud.

Bisharp continued the assault, Pikachu only just able to block again. However, Pikachu now knew to expect the headbutt, and sent electricity surging through both his tail and knife. The charge entered Bisharp through the two contact points, its metal body further conducting it, shocking the larger Blade from the inside out. Pikachu used that moment to escape, before charging back at Bisharp, the two repeatedly clashing. Knife and metallic tail versus arm blades, the two locked in a stalemate of light hits, attack clashes, and near dodges.

Meanwhile, Ash and Riolu had engaged in combat against Alamos. Ash once more went for the first strike with the Aegis Sword, this time holding it in both hands. And once more, Alamos attempted to block it with his chakram. However, this time the outcome was different. The extra force Ash could put behind the strike with his second hand was more than Alamos had expected, resulting in Ash being able to knock the weapon away before going for a second swing with the sword. It was only a glancing cut, but it was enough to cut slightly through the ever-present cloak, revealing only a small hint of a black body beneath it.

All the hit managed to do was further enrage Alamos, the cloaked Driver swinging wildly and forcing Ash out of range before a follow-up attack could be attempted. Ash sliced the blade through the air as he jumped away, sending a point-blank burst of azure ether into Alamos, staggering him before he could shift his weapon to shield mode. The impact created a large cloud of smoke, Ash and Riolu both watching it warily, to avoid being caught off guard. Alamos threw his chakram out of the smoke cloud before it dispersed, and despite his vigilance Ash was unable to raise his sword to counter in time. Thankfully, Riolu was able to create a barrier, the chakram bouncing off of it and high into the air mere inches from Ash’s neck.

Alamos leapt up out of the smoke, grabbing his weapon on the way up before falling blade first towards Ash. The boy tried to parry it away, but with both gravity and Alamos’s almost inhuman strength bearing down on him his legs buckled. Once again, Riolu rushed to the rescue, this time using his Sky Uppercut special instead of placing a barrier. He landed an uppercut punch to Alamos’s torso, before taking the sword from Ash and delivering a slash in the same spot.

In an attempt to finish the fight, Ash and Riolu kept up the assault after Riolu launched Alamos. The pair jumped up together, and went through almost instinctive motions, synchronised perfectly as a result of sharing the same core. They held the Aegis Sword together, bringing it down in front of Alamos without actually striking him. Instead, they both let out a yell of, “BLINDING SWORD!”/ _”BLINDING SWORD!”_ and raised the sword, a bright blue pillar of ether rising up from beneath Alamos as a result.

The attack had clearly dealt some damage, as well as singing the ends of Alamos’s cloak. However, it didn’t put him out of the fight. Just at that moment, the ongoing stalemate between Pikachu and Bisharp came to an end, the larger Blade landing a solid strike and sending Pikachu towards Ash. He recovered in midair and landed shakily on his feet. The small yellow Blade was still able to fight, but was clearly running out of stamina, despite the fact that his wounds were already beginning to heal.

However, despite all the attacks he had just taken, Alamos no longer sounded angry. Instead he just laughed. “Well, I’ll be damned, kid. I guess I might have just underestimated you! Even with a weakened Aegis, you still put up one heck of a fight! And that electric Blade of yours isn’t bad either. I guess you really do deserve your reputation.” His voice then turned more sinister. “But now… playtime is over!”

Bianca had only watched the fight up until now. While at first she was unsure whether to defend Ash or trust her comrades, finally decided to cut in and get involved. “Stop it now, Alamos. He’s just a child! And these salvagers have done nothing wrong!”

“Like I said, Bianca, the less people that know about what happened here the better. And in case you didn’t hear earlier, that kid is the Aegis’s Driver! There is no longer any way this can end where he survives,” came the harsh retort from Alamos.

Alamos didn’t wait for a response, instead channeling a vast amount of dark ether. However, it wasn’t coming from Bisharp, but instead straight from his body. Before anyone could react, he rushed forward, almost a blur, and landed a punch to Ash’s gut. The hit made the boy double over in shock and pain, before Alamos followed through and sent him flying away. Bianca finally got involved, riding Suicune over to Ash in order to heal him. As she finished doing so, she prepared to face Alamos, drawing her swords.

But before she and Alamos could start fighting, they were interrupted by the large black ship that Ash had noticed earlier pulling up next to the ancient vessel, its cannons trained on Ash, Bianca and the three Blades surrounding them. The ship opened fire, and three ether barriers flared to life in the same instant, protecting the drivers from the barrage. As the storm of cannon fire kept up, the barriers gradually broke from the force. First Pikachu’s, then Riolu’s, until only Suicune’s barrier remained up. Thankfully, the cannons eventually had to stop and reload, but the Blades all knew that they would not be able to withstand another salvo. 

Fortunately, they didn’t need to. A loud roar was heard booming through the sky, and Dragonite descended from the clouds, raining green draconic fire on the large guns. While none of them were completely destroyed, a large majority were disabled and could not be used again without repair.

Dragonite’s lower half was the same beige as the start of his neck. His arms were thick and had three white claws on the end of each hand. His entire underside was a lighter shade of beige, and was divided by small creases all the way down to the end of his tail. His wings were small but powerful, the backs of them coloured the same shade as his back, while the inner membrane was a turquoise-blue colour. Lastly, he had small feet with flat soles and three claws on each.

Wasting no time after burning the cannons, Dragonite called out to Bianca. “Grab Ash and get on my back, all of you!” the large dragon Titan said, his tone leaving no room for argument. Bianca grabbed Ash and helped him onto Suicune’s back, while Pikachu and Riolu jumped on by themselves. As Suicune began taking powerful strides towards Dragonite, Alamos moved to try and prevent their retreat, only for Dragonite to stop him with another breath of the green flames. Just as the dragon began to fly away, some of the cannons became operational again and fired towards him. Some hits managed to land on his back, but none of them were enough to stop his flight. After He escaped their range, Alamos was about to order the large vessel to follow, until he was stopped by Fuji.

“Let them be for now. We can have Dia and Orbeetle track them later. Don’t waste your energy any more,” was all Fuji said, Alamos merely nodding in acceptance as they headed back into their ship and it began to move away, leaving the ancient ship behind.

\-----

Hours later, Ash, Pikachu and Riolu awoke in an unknown location, surrounded by dense greenery that blocked out even the sky, preventing them from discerning where they were or even guessing the time of day. After confirming with each other that they were all okay, the trio set off, hoping to both find out their location, as well as find their missing companions.


	4. Unfamiliar Ground

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Having woken up on their own in forest, Ash and his two blades search for a way out. In addition, they also have to look for their missing companions.

“WHAT THE HELL DO YA MEAN, ‘THE AEGIS ESCAPED’!?” Viren bellowed at the screen, the sounds emitted with a piercing crackle on the other end of the communicator. The poor male guild member on the other end winced at the volume.

“It’s like I just said, s-sir!” nervously replied the guild member. “That boy, Ash, made himself the Driver of the Aegis and fought the two male Drivers that employed us, before escaping with the female Driver on the back of a small Titan! He fought the two of them because they planned to kill everyone!”

Viren muttered under his breath, “Yes, that was the whole idea…” before returning to his normal volume and directly addressing the other man. “Ya better have more details to give me when you return to the guild. If ya can’t even die properly then I at least expect more detailed info on what happened. You’ll get your money, on the condition that you not mention this event to anyone, ever. Ya understand?”

“Fine, but I’m quitting after I’ve been paid!” the now-former guild member said in response, with a nervous gulp.

“Yeah, whatever, fine,” Viren answered dismissively, before ending the call and looking down at the map laid out on his desk. He began speaking his thoughts aloud, taking advantage of now being alone. “So, they escaped towards South-Eastern Unova waters, did they? Around this time of year, that would take them to… here,” he said, looking at a specific point on the map. The area in question showed the image of a large, green quadrupedal Titan.

He continued speaking to himself. “If they really are headed there, then I might be able to convince the Consul to exchange information…”

Having made up his mind, Viren turned back to his communicator and put in the contact code for one of his least liked, but most useful confidants. After a few seconds of ringing, the communicator’s screen lit up, showing the face of the person Viren contacted. They were male, with dark auburn hair.

“Ah, Kenny! How wonderful it is to see ya again!” Viren greeted, a fake cheer in his voice.

The person Viren had called, Kenny, did not return the attitude, instead sporting an unamused frown on his face. “Cut out the attitude, Viren. We both know that I don’t like you.”

Viren’s only reaction was to smile wider, his grin becoming less cheery and more smug. “And yet ya still take part in our little deal. Remind me why that is again?”

“Because, as annoying as you are, your discounts on supplies are invaluable for Groudon’s economy,” Kenny replied, before his face gained a wistful look. “And providing useful intelligence helps me get closer to the lovely Special Inquisitor!”

“Ya know, I didn’t actually want an answer. Ever hear of a rhetorical question?” Viren replied, slightly disgusted at the sudden sappy display. “Anyway, let’s get down to business, shall we? The info I’ve got this time is pretty juicy, so I’m expecting a big return on this one. Now, listen up…”

* * *

Ash, Pikachu and Riolu had been searching in the dense woodland on the unknown Titan for some time, but had been entirely unsuccessful. As the three continued to walk, Pikachu and Riolu both stopped and turned towards the same direction, noticing something. _“Hey, Ash, come this way!”_ Pikachu said, jumping off of Ash’s shoulder and heading in the direction he had been looking towards. Riolu quickly followed, leaping off of Ash’s other shoulder.

Ash ran after the two small Blades, calling, “What did you notice?” as he did so.

As Ash caught up to Pikachu and Riolu, the latter answered him. _“There was an ether ripple in that direction!”_

Ash quickly realised what that meant. “That means a Driver is fighting!” he realised, thinking out loud. “Let’s hurry then! If it’s Bianca she might need help!” he said, addressing the two Blades.

_“You got it, buddy!”_ Pikachu responded.

_“Understood!”_ came the swift reply from Riolu.

After barely a minute of running, the trio came across Bianca and Suicune, the pair engaged in combat with a very large, green frog-like monster. Both the monster and Bianca were panting, a sign that they had been fighting for quite a while. However, just as they entered Ash’s field of vision, Bianca’s fatigue caused her to trip, leaving her vulnerable to a strike from the beast. Ash’s instincts kicked in, the boy immediately drawing Pikachu’s knife and sending a large bolt towards the monster while still running forward. The bolt struck true, shocking the creature and interrupting its attack. 

“You want some help?” Ash called to the female Driver, successfully getting her attention.

“I definitely wouldn’t turn the help away right now! This bugger is tougher than he looks!” came the reply from Bianca, using the momentary break from combat to catch her breath.

“Yeah, I can tell. Not many monsters can take a shock that well, especially when soaked like that,” Ash said, before noticing Bianca was only holding one of her swords. “Want me to distract that thing so you can get your other weapon back?” he asked.

Bianca gave no verbal reply to Ash’s question, merely smirking at him, before she changed her grip on the sword she held. A tether of ether then flashed into existence, connecting both the sword Bianca held and the one that had been separated from her earlier. With a flick of her wrist, the tether became taut, and the missing sword came flying back, landing a slice on the hide of the giant frog as it did. Suicune’s Driver then held out her free hand and caught the flying weapon, the ether tether flickering and vanishing as she did so.

Ash watched in awe. “Ok, that was really cool. You could do that the whole time!?” he asked.

_“Maybe now isn’t the time to be impressed, Ash! Fanboy later!”_ Pikachu cut in.

The brunette girl nodded. “Yep, but I like to save it, and catch people off guard. I’m sure you understand.”

_“Well, yellow one, it would appear that My Lady could do with hearing your advice as well. It is a shame she cannot understand you.”_ Suicune said, almost showing exasperation at his Driver.

The monster then finished recovering from the shock and the cut it had received, aiming a large croak and what seemed to be an angry expression at the group. Taking that as a sign that the conversation was over, they shifted into battle stances, as Ash passed the Thunder Knife to its true owner, and in its place drew Riolu’s Aegis Sword.

_“Fighting solo again, huh? For now, that’s just fine by me,”_ Pikachu muttered to himself, as he took the initiative and charged in, quickly followed by the Driver and Blade pairs.

_“You have my support, Ash!”_ Riolu said as he took his stance behind his Driver and initiated the ether link.

As the monster was already weakened, the Drivers and Blades didn’t bother holding back to save energy, and instead went all out, hoping to finish the fight quickly so they could continue searching for a way out of the woodland.

As the first to reach the beast, Pikachu began the assault. He launched himself upwards with a powerful leap to land a slash with the knife, before his tail gained a metal coating and he followed through with a powerful blow from that as well. On the descent, he threw a web of electricity from his tail, preventing the creature from retaliating as the web trapped it. Seeing both Ash and Bianca approaching, Pikachu jumped back, high fiving Ash as the Driver passed.

As Bianca and Ash swung their weapons at the monster, Ash called out a question to the female Driver, hoping to create a proper strategy. “Hey, Bianca! Know any Arts that can break this thing? I can topple it if you do!”

“Yeah, I do. Just make sure you follow up quick enough!” came her reply. As soon as she finished answering, she did a quick slash with her left sword, and followed up with one from the weapon held in her right hand. She finished the combo with an X-shaped slash from both swords, punctuated by a cry of, “Waterfall!” as the monster was knocked off balance.

Ash was quick to take advantage of the beast’s stance being broken, and began to use his topple Art before it could regain its balance. “Sweeping Slash!” Ash yelled as he did two quick spins, each accompanied by a slash towards the monster’s legs. The force of the attack took its legs out from underneath it, finally toppling it.

Bianca continued attacking the now defenceless monster, but before Ash could join her Riolu got his attention. _“I should have mentioned this before, but I have a launch Art, if you’d let me use it!”_ he revealed.

The declaration surprised Ash, but he was quick to recover. “That’s great! If you do that, then I’ll help finish this thing with Pikachu!” Ash said, the plan quickly coming together. He threw the sword to Riolu, the small jackal-like Blade catching it. Pikachu quickly passed his knife to Ash, to take full advantage of the opening that was about to be created.

Riolu held his sword in his mouth to free up both his hands, before charging towards the giant frog. He grabbed the beast with both hands, pumping ether through his arms to lift and throw it in an almost effortless manner, before calling, _“SKY UPPERCUT!”_ and punching the monster, finally finishing with an upward slash. The monster was suspended in the air for a few moments, stuck in the launch state.

Ash and Bianca went to finish the amphibian with no delay, each using another Driver Art. Bianca didn’t bother moving from her spot, instead throwing one of her swords while announcing the name of her Art. “Boomerang Sword!” was what she shouted as she did so. As soon as the thrown weapon landed a hit on the monster, the ether tether once more flashed into existence, and Bianca tugged her remaining sword back, bringing the flying weapon around for a returning strike before she caught it.

The monster landed, signalling the end of the launch state. However, Ash was upon it before it could so much as raise a leg. “Piercing Charge!” was the name of his Art, exclaimed as he thrust Pikachu’s knife deep into the back of the creature before discharging a large amount of electricity through the blade, frying the monster and finally ending the fight.

After half a minute of silence that all Drivers and Blades used to collect themselves, Bianca turned to Ash. “Hey, thanks for the help there,” she said. “I could have probably won on my own, but that thing was unusually strong. I appreciate the help.”

Ash was slightly caught off guard at the genuine thanks he had just received, having expected another smug comment. He shrugged it off, before replying, “Hey, no problem! Just consider it as me returning the favour for the save on this ship.”

“Speaking of the ship, do you know where the big Titan that saved us is?” she asked. “I need to thank him as well.”

Ash and Pikachu’s faces both fell at the question. “We haven’t been able to find the old man yet. We’ve been following all the broken trees we see, but we came across you first, and haven’t seen him yet.”

_“I hope we find him soon…”_ Pikachu said, the rare display of open emotion causing Ash to pick the mouse-like Blade up to hug him.

Bianca interrupted the two, trying to lighten the mood slightly. “Well, it looks like the trail of broken trees continues that way. So if we keep following it, we’re sure to find him eventually!”

As soon as she finished speaking, Bianca hopped on Suicune’s back. The majestic Blade began pacing away, preventing any reply from Ash or Pikachu. After putting Pikachu on one of his shoulders and allowing Riolu to jump on the other one, Ash jogged in order to catch up to the quickly escaping pair.

\-----

It wasn’t long before the group finally reached the area that had taken the most damage while coming up a small hill. When they reached the peak, they noticed the form of the draconic Titan lying wounded on the ground. Ash’s former house was gone, the pieces of the metal that made up the walls as well as various things that had been stored inside it scattered around the clearing. Dragonite himself had multiple giant arrows that had been fired from the cannons on the black ship sticking out of his back.

All casual conversation within the group stopped as they saw the state Dragonite was in, stunned silence taking over. However, that only lasted for a second before Ash ran over in a panic, calling out to Dragonite. “Hey, old man! Are you ok!? Answer me, please!”

The Titan turned his head to the side and tried to smile at Ash. “Well, my boy, it is good to see you made it out relatively unscathed. Although I cannot say the same for myself, it seems!” the Titan said, followed by an attempt at laughter that merely turned into a coughing fit.

The attempt to reassure Ash and Pikachu was unsuccessful. _“C’mon Gramps! Stop joking around!”_ Pikachu cried, bashing his tiny paws into Dragonite’s scales. _“Ash, do you have any herbs or something to help him?”_

“No… wait, hang on!” Ash said, having a realisation. The boy turned to Bianca and asked, “Suicune is healing Blade, right? Can’t you heal him?”

The girl only had a solemn look on her face as she responded to his request. “I’m sorry, but no. There’s a limit to what healing Arts can do, and this is far beyond it.”

Ash was about to beg her to at least try, but was distracted as the Titan’s body began to glow. “I’m sorry you have to see this, Ash,” the Titan apologised as his body began to glow even more, it’s brightness becoming almost blinding. “But don’t worry. I will still be with you…”

The glow reached its apex, everyone being forced to close their eyes as a result. When it was safe to open them, there was no sign of the large Titan. The only evidence he had even been there at all being the damaged trees and the scattered possessions of Ash. The boy in question had tears beginning to form in his eyes. “DRAGONITE!!!” he screamed, distraught at the loss of the Titan that had been like a grandparent to him all his life.

Unknown to Ash, who had his head facing the floor, Bianca noticed something in the place where the old Titan had been laying that made her eyes go wide with shock. She put her hand on Ash’s shoulder and shook it, but failed to get the attention of the boy. Then the thing she had seen began to move.

It was a tiny snake-like creature with a blue back and a white underbelly. Its face had no visible mouth, with the lower half of the face being covered by a large white nose. Just above the nose it had large eyes that had black sclera with small spots of purple and white by the edges. Its forehead had a small, white and round protrusion that looked like the beginnings of a horn. It had two fin-like wings on the side of its head, both coloured white. Lastly, it had a light blue crystal just under its neck, very similar to a core crystal.

The small figure began to speak in a high pitched, yet familiar sounding voice. “Ash?” it said. Upon receiving no response from the boy, it spoke again, saying, “Ash, hello? Anyone there?” but again got no answer as Ash appeared to ignore the figure and everyone else just watched in surprise. “ASH!” he shouted, finally managing to get the attention of the boy.

“What are you… wait, hang on a sec. That voice! Is that you, Dragonite!?” Ash said, his sadness pushed to the back of his mind at the possibility of his mentor still being alive, even if he looked much different from before.

“In the flesh, young man! Although, technically speaking, I am no longer a Dragonite.” the Titan, however unfitting the name now was, answered. “Much like Blades, some Titans have different names for different forms. However, not many can go back like I just did. I am truly exceptional like that,” he continued, his usual attitude beginning to shine through.

Pikachu finally took the time to comment, _“Ok, you better cool down with the ego, given what you just did to Ash. Unless you want a shock, in which case I’ll happily oblige. I get the feeling it would do much more now than it ever has before.”_ The small blade then continued speaking, asking the question that the Titan’s last statement had put on everyone’s minds. _“Anyway, if you don’t want us to call you Dragonite anymore, what the hell do we call you?”_

“Dratini is the name of this form, young man. And it would do you well to respect your elders, no matter how small they are!” the newly named Dratini said.

Ash gave one final sniffle before wiping the almost formed tears from his eyes. Upon realising the last thing the Titan had said before shrinking, a small laugh bubbled up in his throat. “‘I will still be with you,’ huh? Well, at least you weren’t lying, you old menace!”

Dratini looked almost indignant at that comment. “Now my boy, I’m aware I may have a tendency to, well, exaggerate. But have you ever known me to be a liar?”

“I guess not. Anyway, we still need to find out where in Almia we are and we won’t do that by sitting around all day!” was the boy’s answer.

Bianca finally decided to speak, reminding the others of her presence in the clearing. “We’re on the Virizion Titan. I recognise it. It's… well, it's where I’m from. We’re around the side of its belly right now, but I know a route that can take us onto its back, if you follow me.”

Ash glanced at both his Blades and Dratini before making the decision. “Sounds good to me! You just lead the way then!” he said. He then gestured for Dratini to come closer, before picking up the small Titan and finding him to be almost weightless. Ash put the snake-like being around his neck, similar to a scarf. At the questioning look he received in response, Ash merely said, “I mean, you used to carry me around all the time, I might as well return the favour!”

All conversation now over, the group collected as many of Ash’s belongings from around the area as they could reasonably carry. After doing so, along with taking all of his money that they could find, the group set off.

\-----

After multiple hours of walking, the upper back of the Virizion Titan finally came into view. Ash and his Blades gasped at the beautiful sight of the grassy plains in the sunset, seeing multiple animals and monsters roaming freely around, most of them heading back to their burrows and homes for the night, as the nocturnal creatures all woke up from their sleep and began to become more active, ready for a night of hunting or foraging for food.

Bianca and Suicune both merely smiled, both at seeing their home Titan again and at the reactions of the other three. At her suggestion, the group decided to set up camp whilst it was still light, a suggestion that was met with no resistance from any of the others. After they had eaten and lit a campfire, the strange group talked long into the night, accompanied by only the sounds of nature around them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this one took a while, but life got in the way. I hope you enjoyed it!


	5. The Sapphire of Groudon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The party rest for the night, before beginning their trek to Castelia, the largest city on the Virizion Titan. However, upon arriving in the city they end up finding more than they bargained for.

After successfully setting up their camp and eating, the unconventional group stayed up to talk and share stories, making full use of the chance to finally destress from the events that had happened to them all in the last few days. However, most of the talking was being done by Dratini and the two Drivers, the Blades unable to properly contribute as there would always be someone left out whenever they said something. However, noticing Pikachu’s irritation, Riolu decided to speak up.

 _“Hey, Ash, Bianca?”_ the small Blade started, _“I have an idea I’d like to try, if you don’t mind?”_

The question ignited Ash’s curiosity, and he gave a nod towards Riolu. Seeing that there was no opposition from either of the Drivers, Riolu’s body began to glow blue before a small wave of ether pulsed out from his body. His body stopped glowing afterwards, instead replaced by a faint blue aura in the immediate area around the group.

 _“Ok, hopefully that worked… Suicune, could you please try and say something to Ash?”_ asked Riolu, hoping that whatever he had just done was successful.

Upon Riolu’s request, Suicune gained an idea about what Riolu had just done, and so he listened to the Aegis’s request. _“Assuming I’m right, he should understand this,”_ Suicune muttered to himself, before raising his voice and speaking to Ash. _“Thank you for assisting My Lady during these past few days, and I would like to apologise for any trouble that we may have directly caused for you. I am aware that My Lady isn’t the most, shall we say, eloquent in her speech.”_

Bianca was slightly less than pleased to her what her Blade had just said. “Hey, come on Suicune, what have I said about talking for me!?”

Meanwhile, Ash’s face had morphed into one of surprise. “Wait… did I just understand what Suicune just said? That was you talking just now, wasn’t it?” asked the male Driver, surprise having been replaced by excitement.

 _“Indeed it was,”_ is all the quadrupedal Blade said in response.

“That’s so cool! Riolu, is this what you just did!? More importantly, why didn’t you do it earlier!?” Ash asked, his volume causing some of the people present to wince.

Riolu had the decency to look sheepish at Ash’s question. _“If I’m being completely honest, I might have forgotten how to do it at first? And then I wasn’t sure if it would work, so I waited until it was safe.”_

Pikachu gave a snort of laughter at the answer. _“Well then, I guess that shows that even the ‘Legendary Aegis’ still has some shortcomings!”_ the mouse said. Then his face gradually changed to a smirk, one that he got when he was about to do something that might cause trouble. Ash was all too familiar with that smirk, but was unable to stop what Pikachu said next. _“By the way, Bianca. I know I asked your Blade to say this to you, but I’m almost certain he didn’t. So I’ll say it now instead! Ash and I would beat you in a fight, no questions asked.”_

“Dammit Pikachu,” muttered Ash, as Bianca just smirked.

“I’m not so sure about that, but hey, I’ll let you think that if you want,” Bianca said, her tone giving the impression that she didn’t believe Pikachu in the slightest. “Although you should be glad that it’s in our best interests to not draw attention with a fight, otherwise I’d wipe the floor with both you and Ash.”

“Now, now, everyone. Let’s not get too heated at this time of night,” interrupted Dratini. “And if I may be so bold, I have a very serious question to ask of both Ash and Riolu.”

“Sure, fire away old man!”

Dratini cleared his throat then asked, “Ash, just how on Almia did you end up with a Core Crystal in your chest? And why does it look suspiciously similar to the missing portion of Riolu’s?”

“Wow, going straight for the kill, are we? Riolu, you mind helping with this one? You know how some of it works better than I do,” Ash replied.

 _“Of course Ash, fine by me,”_ Riolu confirmed.

Ash and Riolu explained the events that had happened in the time between Ash being stabbed and when he burst out through the floor of the ship. This was not only for the benefit of Dratini, but also for all the other members of the group as well, who each only knew small parts of the bigger picture.

After the explanation finished, everyone there that had heard the story sat in silence, all trying to understand what they had just been told. Bianca was the first one to speak. “So that core in your chest is the only thing keeping you alive, Ash?”

“Yeah, that about sums it up. I don’t even have a pulse right now… but don’t worry! I mean, I’m still alive, I’d rather have no pulse than no life after all!” Ash replied, his attempt at lightening the mood failing due to the apprehensive look on his face.

Riolu sensed the building unease from everyone else, and made his own attempt to reassure them all. _“Ash is completely fine. Other than the presence of my core, he’s no different from normal. And it’s only like this until his heart is repaired, after all. Then he’ll be completely back to normal, like nothing ever happened!”_

Thankfully, Riolu’s words were enough to ease most of the worries that the others had. While none of them, Riolu included, liked the situation, they were at least glad that things were stable and there was no risk of Ash’s body suddenly shutting down.

Ash and Pikachu then both released a large yawn, followed by Bianca and Suicune. The group all wordlessly took that as a sign that the conversation was over. They all began trying to sleep, ready for the trek to Castelia that they would be embarking on during the next day.

* * *

The party woke just as the sun was rising, quickly tidying up their campsite and setting off. After about two hours of walking, including a small stop to save a cosmetics trader from some wolves, the group finally found themselves walking through the gates to Castelia city, the capital city of the Virizion Titan. There was a large crowd gathered in the city square, and the group began to head towards it, hoping to see what all the commotion was about.

However, before they got very far, the group took notice of a message board with three wanted posters. The first two posters depicted the cloaked form of Alamos, as well as a near perfect replication of Fuji’s facial features. However, the one that interested them the most was the third poster.

It was a poster of Bianca. At least, it was clearly supposed to be one. The general outline of Bianca’s features was correct, including the wing-like hair protrusions and the overall hair length. But that was where the similarities stopped. The eyes of the wanted poster Bianca had slitted pupils, and a nose looked like the end of Suicune’s snout. Lastly, the forehead had a smaller version of Suicune’s head crest. It was clear that the artist had accidently confused the descriptions of Bianca and her Blade.

After everyone had fully taken in the poster, Ash noticed that Bianca had started shaking. Worried that she was about to lash out at the object nearest to her, decided it was a wise idea to back away a few steps. However, instead of becoming angry, she burst out with laughter.

Wiping a small tear from her eye, Bianca said, “This is the best laugh I’ve had in ages. I’ll admit, it’s not the most accurate poster, but whoever drew is should be given a raise! It takes a bloody creative mind to screw something up that badly!”

 _“I will admit, My Lady, that I was not expecting you to take this so well. Is this not the sort of thing that would normally annoy you?”_ asked Suicune, both concerned and curious about the reaction of his Driver.

“I mean, you aren’t wrong, I guess. But this is just so absurd I couldn’t help but laugh,” Bianca answered, while sporting a thinking expression. Then her face shifted into a more certain expression, as if she’d made her mind up about something. No-one commented as she approached the poster, observing as she looked around to make sure she wasn’t being watched by anyone outside the small group. Thankfully, the area around the notice board was quiet, everyone’s attention taken up by the commotion in the city square. Finally sure that she wouldn’t be spotted, Bianca pulled down the wanted poster before rolling it up and sticking it into a bag that Suicune had on his back.

Ash gave a small chuckle at her actions. “Taking a small souvenir of our trip? Although since you’ve already got a wanted poster, not much harm adding on a little petty theft I suppose.”

As Pikachu opened his mouth to add on to Ash’s comment, Bianca was able to accomplish the rare feat of silencing the mouse-like Blade with a stern look. He quickly changed what he was about to say into something more productive. _“Why don’t we go and see what all the fuss is about over there?”_

They all nodded in agreement, and gathered by a small gap in the crowd. They looked forward and saw that a uniformed soldier was making a presentation. “Come on, who wants to try? Just resonate with one of our core crystals here and get yourself a free pass into the Groudon Military! Drivers get high pay and amazing pensions, as well as the glory of fighting for both the Groudon Titan and the Virizion Titan that we all stand on at this very moment! And if you do well enough, you can rise up the ranks and earn yourself a very high position, giving even more benefits! Knowing all this, is there still no-one brave enough to try and resonate?”

As the soldier had been making his announcement, a young looking man timidly walked up towards the front with the intent to try resonating, but was slowed down by his younger siblings grabbing at his sleeves and trouser legs. “Don’t do it bro! What if you don’t resonate properly?” one of them cried, hoping to discourage him.

Their efforts were unsuccessful, the young man still approaching the desk, with the aim of touching the crystal that rested on it. The core crystal was spherical in shape, however it had a slight indent all around the middle, and at one point the indent widened into a circle, with a smaller circle sticking out from it.

“It’s ok, you guys. I’m gonna become a Driver, and then we’ll never have to worry about money again,” the young man said, by this point only a few steps away. However, before he could reach out, the young man was barged out the way by a large, muscled figure.

“There’s no way you could resonate kid, you’re too scrawny. Let a real man show you how it’s done,” the large man said, before he placed his hand on the crystal, not bothering to wait for a response. The crystal immediately began to glow, a bright yet ominous light.

Upon seeing just how the crystal was glowing, Ash, Bianca, Dratini and all the Blades immediately grimaced. “Poor guy,” Ash said.

“Yep, he’s done for…” said Bianca, in an almost nonchalant manner, just as the crystal stopped glowing, the light instead flowing into the large man’s body. It stayed that way for a few seconds, before multiple of his blood vessels burst, a large spray coming forth.

As the body fell and was dragged away, Dratini gave a sad shake of his head. “It’s a shame, really. But clearly he didn’t have any Driver aptitude. He should have considered the risks better before being so gung-ho about it…”

However, despite the scary sight, the young man looked even more determined than before. He turned to address his younger siblings once more. “Don’t worry, guys. I can do it. I’m strong, aren’t I?” he asked them. None of them verbally responded, but all of them nodded their heads. “Just watch, it’ll be fine.”

The young man placed his hand on the core, and once again it began glowing. However, this time the glow was much more radiant, and it lacked the ominous pulsing that had been present before. Upon seeing this new glow, Ash’s group all gave large grins, happy to see that the young man’s confidence was not unfounded.

“There it is! He’s got the aptitude!” Ash said to the rest of the group, thankfully not getting much attention due to the focus on the glowing crystal and the young man.

After a few more seconds, the glow increased its intensity, and the crystal changed into a sheathed katana, the Blade’s physical form then materialising. It’s form was rabbit-like, with mostly grey fur. However, the tips of its feet and the top half of its ears were brown, as well as having a few brown patches of fur randomly scattered around its body.

 _“A Bunnelby, huh. A pretty common Blade type, but can be pretty strong still. That boy can probably go far…”_ Riolu muttered to himself.

The young man was congratulated by the soldiers before being escorted away for the official military sign up. The party took this as their cue to leave, and began walking away.

* * *

After looking around the marketplace quickly before deciding that they a supply run could wait, the party entered an alley near to the entrance of the city, in hopes that they could get further into the city without attracting too much attention from the large crowd and the soldiers that were still present in the city square.

However, just as they got close to the end of the alley, they were approached from behind by soldiers. “Halt!” the captain called. “I am Captain Conway of the Groudon Imperial Army! The girl is to be brought in for questioning, as she is a known member of ROTA!” he continued with an almost disconcerting tone, pulling out the wanted poster for all to see.

As he had been speaking, soldiers had approached from the other end of the alley, surrounding the group and cutting off any potential path of escape. However, despite the situation, Bianca couldn’t help but snicker at the poster again, showing her lack of worry about the situation they were in. “I almost forgot about that thing,” she said, before her expression became more serious as she continued, ”Although I’m not sure that the poster is grounds for arrest, given that it looks nothing like me!”

Conway dismissed her statement. “It looks exactly like you!” he proclaimed, “But even if it didn’t, you match all the descriptions we have been given. Right down to the blue quadruped Blade!”

“Dammit…” Bianca quietly swore, only Suicune hearing her.

 _“Well, My Lady, it would appear we cannot negotiate our way out of this one,”_ Suicune said to his Driver.

Ignoring Bianca and Suicune for the moment, the captain turned to Ash, Pikachu and Riolu. “And you, boy. You seem to be a Driver as well!” he said, before lowering his voice. _“Although if the emerald crystal on your chest is any indication, that might not be all...”_ he mumbled, thinking aloud. Saving the thought in his mind, Conway continued addressing Ash. “What is your Driver registration number?”

“It’s 01041997. I think you’ll find I am registered, so don’t even bother trying to accuse me of that.” Ash shot back.

 _“Yeah, Ash may not be the brightest, but even he knows better than to walk around unregistered!”_ Pikachu cut in, momentarily ignoring that the soldiers couldn’t understand him.

“Is this really the time, Pikachu?” Ash asked, although he didn’t expect any response.

“Well, at least that’s one less crime. But I still have to bring you in for questioning, as you’ve been associating with this member of ROTA. However, if you come willingly and are found to be innocent, you will be released afterwards.” Conway explained.

However, Ash wasn’t willing to abandon Bianca, and the Drivers shared a small nod before Bianca drew her swords and Ash took out Pikachu’s knife. “Riolu, I need you to go solo this time. We don’t want to kill them, so Pikachu is my best option here.” Ash whispered, so the soldiers couldn’t hear. “And can you do the translation thing so it only affects us and not the soldiers?”

 _“No problem Ash. And I can, but doing it that way means it only lasts a few minutes without constant upkeep. We’re on a timer if I do that.”_ the small Aegis answered.

“Fine by me!” the boy confirmed, immediately followed by a small blue glow surrounding both Ash and Bianca. Naturally falling into the role of leader, he gave orders to all the others present. “Bianca, keep us all healthy if we get hit by a stray shot. That should be easy enough for you and Suicune. Pikachu, you know what to do. Riolu, keep them off balance with your speed. And old man?”

“Nice of you to finally remember I’m here, boy!” Dratini answered, ready to hear what Ash had to say.

“Fly out of reach, they should ignore you to focus on us. But maybe throw a breath attack every once in a while, if you don’t mind?” Ash finished. Dratini nodded and flew off of Ash’s neck, circling above the alley that was soon to become a battlefield.

Once he realised that the group were planning to fight, Conway gave a motion as if he was adjusting glasses beneath his helmet. His voice took on a tone as if he was both intrigued and almost impressed that they had the spine. “Planning to resist, are we? It’d do you well to not underestimate the might of Groudon’s military. Soldiers, let’s apprehend these Drivers!”

And with that command, the soldiers raised their guns just as the Drivers and Blades sprung into action. Bianca took the first move, immediately activating her sword’s tethers and swinging one of them in a wide arc, forcing all the soldiers in its path to duck out of the way before they could fire. As soon as its arc was completed she dashed forward while returning the sword to her hand, meeting it half way. She instantly went into a flurry of slashes, each of them deep enough to hurt or incapacitate the soldiers, but never enough to kill. As she moved around a small area, distributing attacks equally to all soldiers near, one of them tried to take advantage of her focus and pulled the pin on a small stun grenade, aimed at the middle of the area so it would only hit Bianca, not the soldiers. He threw the grenade, with Bianca seemingly none the wiser.

However, it never reached her. Suicune had noticed the soldier taking aim, and as soon as they threw the grenade, a green hexagonal barrier of ether materialised in midair, and it simply bounced off the barrier, accomplishing nothing but stunning the soldier that had first thrown it. Bianca glanced and grinned at Suicune upon seeing the barrier, the ether affinity link that flowed between them beginning to glow gold. As a further sign of the pair reaching the phenomenon known as maximum affinity, both of their bodies reacted to Suicune’s water element and began emitting mist. Having paused for a small moment as it took effect, the pair once more burst into motion.

In another section of the alley, Riolu danced between gunshots, taking advantage of his small frame, large weapon and ether barriers to avoid getting hit. Going on the offensive as soon as he saw that all the soldiers had to reload, he jumped up and kicked one in the chest, using the force to then push off and punch another one in a similar spot. After landing on the floor, he saw one of them had reloaded and was getting ready to shoot, and in response leaped towards them and swung the Aegis Sword, knocking the gun out of their hands.

The rest of them all finished reloading at around the same time, gathering around Riolu in a tight circle and aiming down at him, meaning that there was no risk of hitting each other. The Jackal Blade released a pulse of flame-like blue ether in front of him to knock some of the soldiers off guard at the same time as he created an ether barrier behind himself to block the incoming bullets. Taking a deep breath to calm his pulse, he jumped right back into battle like Bianca and Suicune before him.

The final members of the group, Ash and Pikachu, were also fairing very well against the soldiers, proving just why the military valued Drivers so much. The pair had already reached maximum affinity, their ether link glowing golden and sparks from Pikachu’s electric element surrounding them both as they moved. The two of them moved in near perfect sync, covering each other’s backs the whole time. A strike from Ash was immediately followed up with either a shield from Pikachu or a second strike to fully knock out or disarm the target.

On the occasions where they were unable to reach a soldier in time, Ash sent out a bolt of electricity from the knife, shocking them for long enough that Pikachu was able to dash over with an Iron Tail at the ready. At one point, Conway was lucky enough to find an opening while Ash and Pikachu were both occupied. He took aim, but Ash spotted the captain pulling the trigger just as Ash finished knocking out the last soldier in his immediate area. A loud bang could be heard as the bullet was fired from the gun, aimed at Ash’s lower torso. However, it never made contact. The instant the bang was heard, Ash’s body moved away from his previous spot so fast that the only proof that he had actually moved instead of teleporting was the small trail of sparks he left behind. He panted, the sheer amount of energy and ether required for moving at that speed almost draining his reserves.

Ash took a moment to catch his breath, taking full advantage of the fact that he had been the first to defeat his group of soldiers. He looked around, and was just in time to see Riolu, Bianca and Suicune take out the last of the soldiers surrounding them, only a shocked Conway left in fighting condition.

It was at that point that the captain noticed Riolu’s core. “An emerald crystal. It really is the Aegis…” he muttered to himself, annoyed that he was only able to confirm it after he had lost his chance to obtain it.

Ash finished catching his breath before shouting, “Let’s go, everyone!” when he noticed some of the soldiers beginning to get up again.

However, just as they were about to exit the alleyway, a curtain of water came up from the ground in front of them, stopping them in their tracks. They turned back, and saw a menacing looking shadow back near the entrance. The shadow grew in size, getting larger as the figure approached and more outfits shadow was appearing on the wall. However, then the figure turned the corner, destroying almost all the tension that had built during its approach.

The figure in question was a tiny blue Blade that looked a lot like a penguin. It’s entire body was covered in down-like feathers. Most of its head was a dark shade of blue that then continued down to the top of its neck like a collar, as well as going down it’s cape-like tail. Going from its forehead, down between to its eyes and stopping at its beak was a lighter shade of blue. It had a bright yellow beak, and the rest of its face was white. Its torso, arms and legs were the same shade as between its eyes, only interrupted by its glowing core crystal below its neck and two small patches of white feathers. Its feet were the same shade of yellow as its beak. And lastly, held in its flippers were two bladed fan-like weapons.

Conway and his soldiers were the first to recover from the appearance of the small Blade, all of the conscious ones having made their way in front of the Blade and respectfully bowing to it. The captain was the one to speak. “Master Piplup, I would like to humbly request your assistance with the capture of this ROTA member and her compatriots,” he asked. Piplup merely nodded as an answer, aware that none of the soldiers would be able to understand him. “Thank you, the help of the Sapphire of Groudon is greatly appreciated! Men, go fetch the equipment! I shall assist Master Piplup.”

Ash’s face fell into one of worry upon hearing that. “So that’s the Sapphire. I knew I recognised that Blade, but I didn’t think it’d be him.”

Riolu had been confused at first, being the only one to not recognise the form or Piplup. However, upon hearing his title, the Aegis quickly realised just who it was. _“So, this is how you were awakened this time, huh? Ash, it would be wise to retreat as soon as we can. I might not be familiar with this form of theirs, but I know firsthand just how powerful the Sapphire is even without a Driver. We fought 500 years ago.”_

Bianca, still covered with the blue translation ether, agreed. “He’s right. We need to find a way to escape as soon as possible before they return with reinforcements. If only this bloody water curtain wasn’t in the way…” she said. “Suicune, any way you can take control of that water?”

 _“I am sorry, but I cannot. That Blade’s water manipulation skill is far more refined than mine,”_ he said, shame evident in his voice.

Unusually, this time it was Pikachu that came in with an encouraging comment. _“Don’t feel too bad about it, big guy. That Blade isn’t known as ‘The Empire’s Strongest’ for nothing.”_

“Until we find a way through, fighting is our best option,” Ash decided. “If we can beat that captain and Piplup before their reinforcements arrive, we should be able to get through the water with a combined attack.”

Dratini chose that moment to enter the conversation. “It would appear your time for talking is up, the enemy is approaching. But if you distract them for long enough, I should be able to build up enough strength to get rid of that water with my dragonfire.”

“That’s fine by me! Get ready to fight, everyone!” Ash called, ending the conversation as Dratini flew above the battlefield again, charging his energy in preparation.

Piplup took that moment to address the party. _“I would try and convince you to not resist, but I know full well that you will. So just know that I will not go down as easily as you might think, even without a Driver,”_ he claimed. It was then that he noticed the matching green cores on Ash and Riolu’s chests. _“Well, this is curious, isn’t it… two emerald cores. It would appear I now have even more reason to capture you all!”_ he finished, before charging forward, fans held out wide. Conway quickly followed behind him.

Ash’s group re-entered their max affinity states, and ran forward to meet the Imperial pair as they left sparks and mist in their wake. Ash went for Conway first, hoping to take him out of the fight early so that they could all focus on Piplup. The Driver went for the first strike with ether enhanced speed, but Conway showed that he had earned his captain position and was able to block the strike with the bayonet on his rifle. However, he didn’t predict Ash sending charge through the locked blades, resulting in him having to break the clash in pain, giving Ash an opening to land a slash against Conway’s side. The only silver lining for the captain was that he was able to keep a grip on his weapon. Ash kept up a fast assault, Conway only just able to block some attacks, with others getting through and gradually wearing him down with small cuts.

While Ash and Pikachu wore down the captain, Bianca, Suicune and Riolu went straight for Piplup. Riolu took advantage of being a similar size, and Bianca helped as she was able to easily reach the floor with her swords. As the group approached, Piplup had closed his fans, making them much more knife-like than they were when unfolded. He used the two of them to catch Riolu’s initial overhead swing in a cross shaped guard, before forcing the Aegis’s oversized sword away with a powerful flick. Just as the small water Blade was about to follow up with a Bubble Beam attack, Bianca swiped at him with one of her swords, forcing Piplup to create a barrier in response.

Hoping to ease some of the pressure, the moment the barrier went down, Piplup jumped back and began a Blade Special. _“Ice Beam!”_ yelled the small penguin, just as he began the motions for his attack. He flicked out both of the fans at the same time as he opened his beak, a pale blue light forming on all of them. All three lights shot forward towards Bianca , combining into a single large beam mid-travel. The beam hit Bianca’s legs before Piplup swept it over Suicune’s body as well. The attack didn’t cause much damage, however it had the extra effect of freezing the Driver and Blade’s legs in place, forcing them to spend precious time breaking the ice.

Now able to focus his attention on a single target, Piplup once again closed the fans and leapt towards Riolu, the jackal meeting the penguin halfway. _“It looks like that small form hasn’t affected your power in the slightest!” Riolu said, as their weapons locked once more. “I will admit, those fans are new to me. An interesting change from the trident of your Empoleon form!”_

 _“So it would seem that the records of us being former allies weren’t exaggerated. Still, right now we are enemies. I will capture you, for the glory of Groudon!”_ Piplup retorted before breaking the lock the same way as before. This time he was able to successfully use a Bubblebeam follow-up, but it ended up being fruitless as Riolu was able to send out a blast of blue ether from his sword. He tried to stay out of Piplup’s range and take advantage of having the larger weapon, but as the penguin Blade was dual wielding it instead worked against the small Aegis.

Deciding to try a different tactic, Riolu dismissed the Aegis Sword and instead charged in barehanded, his fists and feet all covered in azure ether. This tactic was much more successful, with Riolu blocking or dodging most incoming attacks before getting into the penguin’s guard to land a rush of punches. After blocking Piplup’s retaliatory swing, Riolu was able to duck down before rising with a solid uppercut, knocking the water Blade back.

Meanwhile, Ash had finally disarmed Conway and hit him with a final blast of ether to prevent him continuing the fight when he saw Piplup getting thrown back. After looking up and seeing that Dratini had finished charging, as well as confirming that Bianca and Suicune were now free from the ice, Ash decided it was time to finish the fight and escape. He passed the Thunder Knife to Pikachu with the command, “Iron Wheel!”

Pikachu was quick to comply, and jumped in the air after lighting his tail with a metal sheen. Bianca and Suicune followed after the mouse, the three of them preparing for the final attack. However, just before they made contact with Piplup, they heard the voice of one of the soldiers yelling “FIRE!”

Three yellow glowing nets flew out from behind Piplup, and Pikachu, Suicune and Bianca were all caught by them. Conway, having made his way over to the rest of the soldiers, took the chance to boast. “Meet Groudon’s latest military development, the Ether Net! As I’m sure you Drivers know, Blades have to draw ether from the atmosphere. This net blocks that, blunting their weapons and preventing all of their arts. Good luck escaping, heheheh…” the captain said, accompanied by another motion as if he was pushing up a pair of glasses underneath his helmet.

 _“Now, Aegis, it would do and your Driver well to surrender. You put up a very impressive fight, and may have even beaten me had we gone uninterrupted. But as it is, both you and your Driver are exhausted, and you are outnumbered. Surrender,”_ The small water Blade ordered.

Ash was unwilling to give in, and was about to ask Riolu for his sword until Pikachu spoke up. _“Don’t be stupid, partner. This isn’t a fight you can win right now, as much as I hate to admit. Run away for now, and you can come back later to get me. It’s not like they could stop you at full strength, after all!”_ Pikachu claimed.

Despite no longer being affected by the translating ether, Bianca still caught onto the general tone of what Pikachu said. “I’m assuming that the little rat said something about running and coming back, and he’s right. Don’t get yourself captured here, you can just come back and get us all!”

Ash’s face changed into a determined grimace upon hearing what the both of them said. “Dammit… I’ll be back soon, don’t worry!” he promised as he and Riolu turned to run. “Old man, now!” Ash called to Dratini, the small Titan responding right away. His blast of flames blasted a hole in the still present curtain of water, one that lasted long enough for the Aegis and his Driver to run through.

Piplup wasn’t willing to let them escape, and instead fired a Bubblebeam after them, hoping to stop them. However, just before it hit, a laser of ice elemental ether came out of nowhere and collided with the bubbles, freezing and causing them to drop to the floor, useless.

Ash and Riolu turned the corner, finally escaping the soldiers, but both feeling the pain of having to leave Pikachu, Bianca and Suicune behind. Both swearing to get them back as soon as possible.


End file.
